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Like every kid that grew up watching too many movies and TV shows, I have references that my brain keeps ready to deploy at a moment’s notice for key repeated events in my life. Being a man of a certain age, many of my references are locked in during the 1990s. For example, when something unexpected happens in my life, I might think, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” If I see a coworker being underestimated, I may think, “Stupid is as stupid does.” When I sit down for endless shrimp at my favorite corporate seafood restaurant, I think, “Shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it-” You know what? I’m now realizing these are all Forrest Gump references. God, that movie is quotable.
Setting that aside, when I set up the Hisense PT1 Ultra Short Throw Laser Projector and gazed upon the dazzling image being projected in my own home, my mind went to another movie from the ’90s: The Cable Guy. As I sat, tears filling my eyes at the bright picture, vivid color, and true black tones of this modern technological marvel, my lips parted, and I whispered, “The future is now.”
OK, maybe “the future” is a bit of an exaggeration, but if Dippin’ Dots can build a whole brand on being “The Ice Cream of the Future,” then I can throw that term around every once in a while. It’s 2026, Dippin’ Dots! We were promised flying cars, TV you can smell, and little balls of ice cream on every corner! While many of those promises have come up short, the Hisense PT1 treats your other senses so well that you won’t even care that you can’t smell it.
The Hisense projector boasts a crisp 4K image and 2500 lumens of brightness. It puts AI to work in a way you will actually cheer for: AI noise reduction, 4K and HDR upscaling, and brightness optimization. The PT1 has an excellent 3000:1 native contrast ratio, which means your brights will be bright and your darks will be dark, giving you the truest image across a wide range of lighting conditions.
At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, “OK, guy. I know how projectors work. You’re not saying anything that hasn’t been said before.” Ah ha. You’ve fallen directly into my trap. You see, I’ve buried the lede and withheld the greatest thing about the PT1: Ultra. Short. Throw. Unlike most projectors, this is designed to be set up about six inches from the surface you are projecting on, and projects up onto it. One of my beefs any time I use a projector is the need to clear a path for the image to travel across the room to the screen, often needing a minimum of four feet or more. I feel like I’m always sitting just slightly in the wrong spot, and when I move, my shadow blocks the picture. The Hisense PT1 saves me from that humiliation. It’s the perfect option for when you want a movie theater experience without having the space of a movie theater.
This projector is about the size of one of those combination VCR/DVD players that were very popular in the early 2000s, making it ultra portable. Imagine having a big screen TV that you could easily move from room to room or take with you to a friend’s house for a movie night. With the Hisense PT1, imagine no longer. While the equipment may be small, it projects up to a massive 150-inch image–twelve and a half feet.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you of the theatrical experience you’re in for, there’s the sound. Most projectors have built-in speakers that provide a moderate level of audio output. With other projectors I’ve owned, I’ve always needed to attach a soundbar to truly get the experience I wanted. That was not at all the case with the Hisense PT1. The native sound output on this is unreal. It contains two front-firing 15-watt speakers and two top-firing eight-watt speakers. This was my first time testing a projector that I had to turn the volume down from where I initially set it because the audio was so good. If you’re a surround sound perfectionist, you may still want to hook up external speakers… but you certainly won’t need to.
My one qualm with the Hisense PT1 is that you will definitely need a dedicated screen to project onto. Some projectors work better than others for throwing directly onto a wall, but at the short distance and low angle, any imperfections on the surface will be very apparent. Trying to align the image on a bare wall without a screen was an actual nightmare, but as soon as I put it in front of a screen, the automatic keystone correction took over and made the alignment a breeze. It’s always a bit of a bummer to realize that you need to buy a supplemental item to get something to work ideally, but with any projector you’re going to see such a vast improvement in image quality and ease of use that you won’t regret the purchase.
The Hisense PT1 Ultra Short Throw Projector is an excellent option if you’re looking to enhance your home theater setup. The quality is comparable to high-end projectors, but with a price tag just under $2200, it doesn’t have the same intense sticker shock as some of its competitors. Whether you’re watching something brand new that was filmed in 4K and has the highest definition, or spinning an old familiar classic from your childhood that maybe hasn’t aged that well but you still love it because Tom Hanks is a national treasure, the image will look amazing with all the bells and whistles that Hisense has integrated into this machine. We’re living in an era where you don’t have to go to the movies; the movies can come to you. The future is now.
